Calvin Johnson ranked 54th amongst fantasy
WRs in Wk 1. Better days are ahead beginning in Wk 2.
Grab a Helmet
Calvin
Johnson vs MIN: One of the biggest knocks on the offensive
coaching staffs the last few years in Detroit was the inability
to devise schemes to get Calvin Johnson open vs. double teams. Since
Matt Stafford has been coached out of throwing up into triple coverage
to Megatron, there are stretches of games where it seems like one
of the best receivers in the game is an afterthought. If you watched
how the Falcons moved Julio Jones around the formation on Monday
night you’ll see what I’m talking about. So how does all this mumbo
jumbo factor into Calvin? Expect the beast to be fed early and often
vs the Vikings. Much like Shaq-led teams, the Lions offense works
best when they start with the big man and work their way out. Look
for the Lions to take a few calculated deep shots to Calvin early
to open things up for Tate and Abdullah underneath. He’s older,
and less explosive, but CJ is still capable of winning your week
all by himself.
Torrey
Smith @ PIT: Signed to a monster contract in the off-season,
Torrey Smith was of course highly featured in the Week 1 game plan
vs Minnesota. What’s that you say, he finished with 1 catch for
11 yards. Ah! Oh well. It was obvious from the first snap San Fran
was going to employ a ground and pound game plan against the Vikes.
Kaepernick barely threw any passes past 25 yards, and didn’ t need
to. With the Steeler offense posing a much greater scoring threat,
the 49ers are going to have to throw to score points, and that works
out quite well when the most burnable secondary in the league is
on the other side of the field. While he’ll never be a high volume
threat, look for Smith to slip past the Steeler secondary for a
few long gains and a score, giving Smith sneaky WR2 upside for a
bottom of the barrel price.
Donte
Moncrief v. NYJ: With Andre Johnson looking all of his
age, and the Colts offense being bottled up, Moncrief quietly was
second on the team with 11 targets, 6 catches and a touchdown. Lost
in the shuffle of the acquisition of Johnson, and the drafting of
Phillip Dorsett, Moncrief has the best size/speed combination of
the Colts receivers. With T.Y Hilton possibly on the shelf this
week, Moncrief could be thrust into a starting outside receiver
position. While it’s always a possibility Moncrief spends time on
Revis Island, there is enough upside here in the Colts passing offense
to take that chance, especially when you consider the cost it took
to get Moncrief on your roster.
Grab Some Pine
Amari
Cooper vs BAL: For all intents and purposes it was
a very ho-hum (other than getting his head bashed in by Pacman
Jones) debut for the much hyped rookie from ‘Bama. The Bengals
jumped out to a big lead, but Derek Carr went down with a hand
injury, and the Oakland passing game went into the gutter. Cooper
is going to be a volume monster in this offense, but that’s not
saying much, and may make Amari nothing more than a WR3 before
mid-season. As of now, it looks like Carr is going to play, but
if not, downgrade Cooper even more. He’s not a terrible start
this week, especially in PPR leagues, but in standard leagues
where yards and touchdowns carry more weight, look for other options.
Sammy
Watkins vs NE: Watkins is the victim of the sad tale
of mis-matched personnel. Drafted to be the lynch-pin in an up-tempo
pass offense, the Bills switched philosophies entirely when they
hired Rex Ryan. Now stuck on a run-first, ground it out team,
Watkins’s fantasy value is sinking fast. Blanked in the box score
in Week 1, the Clemson alum is truly a boom or bust WR3 option.
The first game may be an aberration, or a scary trend, but either
way I need to see how things play out before Watkins gets a starting
nod on my team, and you should to.
Vincent
Jackson @ NO: Age, and a rookie quarterback who looks
downright lost have put a serious dent in Jackson’s fantasy
value. Everything lined up perfectly for Jackson to have a monster
game in Week 1. Tampa was down 35-7 in the first half, and Mike
Evans was on the shelf. Jackson should have put up a monster line,
but instead finished with a paltry 4 catches for 51 yards. He’ll
have some good stat lines this year, but that two-touchdown total
from last year is looking more like the reality for Jackson. If
he couldn’t put up a dominating performance with all the
things in his favor Week 1, how can you trust him going forward?
Watch how Winston develops before plugging Jackson into your line-up
again.
May you avoid the injury bug and the always amusing vultured touchdown.
Good luck this week everyone!
